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Thursday, August 6, 2015

'Diary of an Overly Reactive Middle Aged Teenager' is a story of a girl
who is not ready to be part of a 9 to 5 job in the corporate world. She feels
that she has the potential to be an actor and dares to pursue her dream in
Mumbai with some rider attached by her parents. The film holds your interest
and attention till the end to know how this Overly Reactive Middle Aged
Teenager girl deals with her dream and the happenings around it. This film is directed
by Prashant Sehgal and it had been part of the official selection of: Delhi
International Film Festival, 2013; Jaipur International Film Festival, 2014;
Global Film Festival, NOIDA; Bioscope Global Film Festival, 2014, and River to
River Florance Indian Film Festival, 2014.

Cast: Sakshi Oberoi Bahadur

Direction: Prashant Sehgal

Assistant
Director: Nandita Anand

Produced
by: Prashant Sehgal

Story by: Sakshi Oberoi Bahadur

Music: Taylor Hayward, Kevin Macleod

Film
Editing by: Prashant Sehgal

Production
Company : Phaltu Phillums

Language: Bilingual (English & Hindi)

Duration: 72 minutes

Reviewer's
Thumb Mark

The movie begins with the said quote " The Desire to be Famous is as
Old as the Desire to Desire". Prashant Sehgal's movie 'Diary of an Overly
Reactive Middle Aged Teenager' aka D.O.O.R.M.A.T. is the story of a teenager who
dares to listen to her heart and leaves the comfy environment of her home in
Indore to reach Mumbai to pursue her dream to become an actor. The film takes
you through her diary - a priced possession
(a laptop - a lovely graduation present by her parents). The laptop is her
conscience keeper and it is her diary. She feels, she is lazy to write a diary
and therefore, she comes up with a brilliant idea to record a diary.

Prashant Sehgal: The Filmmaker

D.O.O.R.M.A.T. is actually a
rendezvous you have as a viewer with the main protagonist, Sakshi. You slowly
start liking this chirpy, bubbly young teenager for her weird thoughts, dilemmas
and her sheer courage to tread the unknown path just because she is so much in
love with what she wants to do in life. This 72 minutes film has been shot in
such a simple but amazingly beautiful way that you become an integral part of
the film because you realize very soon that without you, Sakshi cannot exist
and that you cannot pull yourself out of this emotional bonding you have
unknowingly developed with her.

Sakshi Oberoi Bahadur, as Sakshi is awesome as an 'Overly Reactive Middle
Aged Teenager'. She holds your interest and takes you through her emotional
roller-coaster ride in the pursuit of her dream in the city of Mumbai. You feel
happy, confused, anxious, tensed, and also romantic along with her. You start experiencing
her experience and that makes this movie distinct from some of the movie I have
recently watched.

The film drags a bit because of the repetitive nature of the narration of
the diary and Sakshi's marathon in
appearing in different dresses (precisely 46 or may be more than that because I
lost count in between, in this short sweet 72 minutes film) keeps you guessing
what she will appear in next frame. But the bubbly Sakshi makes you overlook
the same.

What happens to Sakshi's dreams, who helps her, what does the city of
Mumbai offer her, does her optimism towards life help her surge through the
challenges she faces. Watch D.O.O.R.M.A.T. you will enjoy being her diary and
shall for sure start missing her, like I feel now, once the movie ends.

Taylor Hayward, Kevin Macleod's music is good.
In short, Prashant Sehgal, the film maker tells us to pursue our dreams realistically
keeping in mind - the pros and the cons. Sakshi as a writer has infused a kind of freshness in storytelling.

Finally, to review a film made by a dear friend like Prashant is equally challenging and a delight.